Microsoft's X05 event in pictures

X05 in pictures

Last week, Microsoft held its Xbox 360 launch event - X05 - in Amsterdam. We weren't able to get out there, but we can bring you some of the cool pictures, screenshots and info that Microsoft has released.

This abandoned warehouse was the setting:

It was turned into this...

The key facts from X05

There were plenty of Microsoft executives on hand to talk about the console. These included Corporate VPs Peter Moore and J Allard, as well as Robbie Bach, Chief Xbox Officer. There was plenty of new information on offer, with many of the titbits we've posted below originally appearing on Eurogamer and GameInformer.

• Backwards compatibility is still being worked on. The Xbox 360 will use game-specific emulation profiles to achieve compatibility with popular Xbox games. These profiles will require the hard drive, and the console will ship with a number of these profiles already on the drive, with more being made available for download for as long as there is demand. New profiles will be auto-updated onto the drive.
  
• The first downloadable game for the 360 will be Marble Blast Ultra, an update to the Marble Blast title currently available on the Xbox Live Arcarde.
  
• There will be a bunch of content already insalled on the drive. This will include a custom soundtrack with some famous bands, as well as wallpapers and gamer icons for your Xbox Live Gamertag. There's a video showing the assembly of the X360 as well as Hexic - a puzzler by the creator of Tetris. This is in addition to the software already announced, namely, the Neon light synthesizer by Jeff Minter.
  
• J Allard suggested that he had thought of making a gesture-sensitive remote, like the Revolution controller, but dumped the idea after a lack of excitement from the development community. He mooted the idea of a simplified Xbox controller to help less experienced gamers, and noted that some 'casual' games in the Xbox Live Arcade would be playable with the Xbox 360 remote control.
  
• The Xbox will be a supported platform well into 2006 and possibly 2007, with content still being released through next year.
  
• Who could forget the news that the Halo movie will be produced with the hands of Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and WETA?

Over the page we have some pictures of some cool custom Xbox 360s, and then it's on to the games...